Hello again, readers. This next chapter is pure fluff, and only included because it's part of the Pacifist route. If you'd like to skip it and move on/wait for the next chapter, that's totally cool. Just figured I'd give you folks a heads up. I'm planning on publishing the first chapter of my Genocide story, DETERMINATION, on Tuesday, so the next chapter of this story may not be here until Thursday.
Gaster out.
Trailing behind Papyrus, Frisk makes a beeline for the inn, where her determination flashes before she enters to make use of the bed. Even the snores of her neighbors can't keep her awake this time, and she falls deeply asleep, closing her eyes and drifting off peacefully. Waking up refreshed, she heads back downstairs and checks with the front desk, only to find that yet again, she spent only minutes in the room. Apparently, determination is good for more than just fighting. Heading outside again, she nearly bumps into Papyrus on her way to check on the door of the only unoccupied house in the village. He greets her cheerily, almost as if he's been waiting for her the whole time…which he probably has, on second thought. "SO YOU CAME BACK TO HAVE A DATE WITH ME! YOU MUST BE REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS…I'LL HAVE TO TAKE YOU SOMEPLACE REALLY SPECIAL…A PLACE I LIKE TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME!"
He leads her around the town, and she follows the sound of his footsteps on a long, roundabout path…straight back to his house. He heads inside quickly, clearly expecting Frisk to follow. She hears the rattle of bones at one end of the room, where he stands quietly, seemingly to let her take it all in. As she explores, he explains what everything is, and what it does. As she looks under the sink, the dog that stole Papyrus' "Special Attack" is revealed, but escapes out the front door before she or Papyrus can catch it.
"CURSES!" swears Papyrus. Sans pops out from behind a door that seems to have flames coming through the cracks, and plays a few morose notes on a trombone. Papyrus is not amused.
"SANS! STOP PLAGUEING MY LIFE WITH INCIDENTAL MUSIC!" he yells, irritated. He and Frisk vacate the kitchen, and Frisk finds a book on the end-table next to the sofa. Opening it and scanning the pages, she finds it's a complex joke about quantum physics. That is, it's a quantum physics book inside joke book inside a quantum physics book inside a joke book, etc. Clearly, Sans is capable of doing some interesting things to reality. Ignoring the rest of the living room, Frisk walks up to a closed upstairs door and cocks her head questioningly.
" THAT'S MY ROOM. IF YOU'VE FINISHED LOOKING AROUND, WE COULD GO IN AND…DO WHATEVER PEOPLE DO WHEN THEY DATE?"
Frisk nods, and Papyrus leads her inside. "SO, UM….IF YOU'VE SEEN EVERYTHING…DO YOU WANT TO START THE DATE?"
Frisk nods again, and Papyrus grins. "OKAY! DATING…START!"
The darkroom appears, along with a mildly nervous Papyrus. He explains quickly that he's never done this before. "BUT DON'T WORRY! YOU CAN'T SPELL 'PREPARED' WITHOUT SEVERAL LETTERS FROM MY NAME! I SNAGGED AN OFFICIAL DATING RULEBOOK FROM THE LIBRARY! WE'RE READY TO HAVE A GREAT TIME!"
Frisk tries to suppress her laughter. Official dating rulebook?! That's really hilarious. He has no idea what he's doing! Of course, neither do I, but…never mind. This is turning out to be more fun than I thought it'd be.
Papyrus holds the rulebook up to his face, and peers at it closely. "STEP ONE… PRESS THE [ C ] KEY ON YOUR KEYBOARD FOR 'DATING HUD.'"
Frisk presses an imaginary [C] key on an imaginary keyboard, and an imaginary dating HUD appears. Papyrus is suitably impressed. "WOWIE! I FEEL SO INFORMED! I THINK WE'RE READY FOR STEP TWO! STEP TWO…ASK THEM ON A…(didn't we already do this part?)…DATE. HUMAN. I, PAPYRUS WILL GO ON A DATE WITH YOU," he declares happily. Frisk nods in response "R-REALLY? WOWIE! I GUESS THAT MEANS IT'S TIME FOR PART THREE. STEP THREE…PUT ON NICE CLOTHES TO SHOW YOU CARE." He pauses for a moment. "WAIT A SECOND. WEAR CLOTHING…. THAT BANDAGE HANGING OFF OF YOU. YOU'RE WEARING CLOTHING RIGHT NOW!" he announces, shocked.
Frisk looks down at her arm, where Flowey's blades had cut her when she first fell. Apparently, Toriel had bandaged it while she was asleep. She hadn't needed it, since determination had healed it before she ever got to Toriel's home, but it was a nice gesture.
Papyrus has been talking the whole time. "NOT ONLY THAT…EARLIER TODAY, YOU WERE ALSO WEARING CLOTHING! NO…COULD IT BE? YOU'VE WANTED TO DATE ME FROM THE VERY BEGINNING?!"
Frisk shakes her head, but Papyrus will not be disappointed. "DESPITE THAT, YOU STILL CHOSE TO WEAR CLOTHING TODAY. WAS YOUR INTEREST IN ME…PREDESTINED?! N- NOOOO! YOUR 'DATING POWER'…!"
Frisk's determination flares as the tension rises. "DON'T THINK YOU'VE BESTED ME YET! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE NEVER BEENE BEATEN AT DATING, AND I NEVER WILL. I CAN EASILY KEEP UP WITH YOU! YOU SEE, I, TOO, CAN WEAR CLOTHING. IN FACT, I ALWAYS WEAR MY 'SPECIAL' CLOTHES UNDERNEATH MY REGULAR CLOTHES, JUST IN CASE SOMEBODY HAPPENS TO ASK ME ON A DATE! BEHOLD! WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY SECRET STYLE?" he asks, flashing out of the room and back in with a shirt that says "cool dude" and a backwards baseball cap.
Frisk, barely containing her giggles at the sight of his outrageous outfit, responds enthusiastically "I love it!"
His dismay is clear. "OH, NO! A GENUINE COMPLIMENT…! HOWEVER, YOU DON'T TRULY UNDERSTAND THE HIDDEN POWER OF THIS OUTFIT! THEREFORE, WHAT YOU JUST SAID IS INVALID! THIS DATE WON'T ESCALATE ANY FURTHER…UNLESS YOU FIND MY SECRET! BUT THAT WON'T HAPPEN!"
He stands straight, proud, and confident that she'll never guess his secret. On her first guess, she points to his hat. As Papyrus stammers, it slowly rises up to reveal a small package wrapped in paper and tied neatly with a ribbon.
"MY HAT? MY HAT…MY HAT! W- WELL THEN…YOU FOUND MY SECRET! I SUPPOSE I HAVE NO CHOICE! IT'S A PRESENT J- JUST FOR YOU!"
The wrapping paper and ribbon disappear to reveal a lump of pasta noodles clumped on top of his skull.
"DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS?" Papyrus asks, clearly expecting Frisk to know immediately.
She nods, and says "Spaghetti."
"SPAGGETTI. RIGHT! BUT OH-SO WRONG. THIS IS AN ARTISAN'S WORK! SILKEN SPAGHETTI, FINELY AGED IN AN OAKEN CASK, THEN COOKED BY ME, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS. HUMAN! IT'S TIME TO END THIS! THERE'S NO WAY THIS CAN GO ANY FURTHER!" he retorts, then holds out the spaghetti for Frisk to try. She tentatively takes a bite, and her face reflexively scrunches up. This taste is…indescribable…she thinks. Papyrus interprets this expression optimistically, as usual.
"WHAT A PASSIONATE EXPRESSION! YOU MUST REALLY LOVE MY COOKING, AND BY EXTENSION, ME! MAYBE EVEN MORE THAN ME."
Frisk's determination flares to its highest, and the world goes white as Papyrus continues.
"HUMAN. IT'S CLEAR NOW. YOU'RE MADLY IN LOVE WITH ME. EVERYTHING YOU DO, EVERYTHING YOU SAY. IT'S ALL BEEN FOR MY SAKE. HUMAN. I WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY, TOO. IT'S TIME FOR ME TO EXPRESS MY FEELINGS"
Frisk readies herself for an incredibly self-centered declaration of his love, or something along those lines.
"IT'S TIME THAT I TOLD YOU. I, PAPYRUS…I…UM…" he trails off. Finding his hesitation unusual, Frisk's determination fades slightly, and the darkroom comes back into view.
"BOY, IS IT HOT IN HERE, OR IS IT JUST ME?" he pauses again.
"OH, SHOOT. I…HUMAN…I'M SORRY. I DON'T LIKE YOU THE WAY YOU LIKE ME. ROMANTICALLY, I MEAN. I MEAN, I TRIED VERY HARD TO! I THOUGHT BECAUSE YOU FLIRTED WITH MY, THAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO GO ON A DATE WITH YOU. THEN, ON THE DATE, FEELINGS WOULD BLOSSOM FORTH! I WOULD BE ABLE TO MATCH YOUR PASSION FOR ME! BUT ALAS, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS…HAVE FAILED. I FEEL JUST THE SAME AS BEFORE. AND INSTEAD, BY DATING YOU, I HAVE ONLY DRAWN YOU DEEPER INTO YOUR INTENSE LOVE FOR ME! A DARK PRISON OF PASSION, WITH NO ESCAPE. HOW COULD I HAVE DONE THIS TO MY DEAR FRIEND…? NO! WAIT! THAT'S WRONG! I CAN'T FAIL AT ANYTHING! HUMAN! I'LL HELP YOU THROUGH THESE TRYING TIMES! I'LL KEEP BEING YOUR COOL FRIEND AND ACT LIKE THIS ALL NEVER HAPPENED. AFTER ALL, YOU ARE VERY GREAT. IT WOULD BE TRAGIC TO LOSE YOUR FRIENDSHIP. SO PLEASE…DON'T CRY BECAUSE I WON'T KISS YOU. BECAUSE, I DON'T EVEN HAVE LIPS. AND HEY, SOMEDAY, YOU'LL FIND SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME. WELL, NO. THAT'S NOT TRUE. BUT I'LL HELP YOU SETTLE FOR SECOND BEST!"
He ends his long soliloquy with typical childish ego, jets out of the room, and then pokes his head back in. "OH, AND IF YOU EVER NEED TO REACH ME…HERE'S MY PHONE NUMBER," he says, handing her a slip of paper. "YOU CAN CALL ME ANY TIME! PLATONICALLY. WELL, GOTTA GO," he says, giving his signature cackle and making his signature swift exit. Frisk heads outside, relieved that she's managed to befriend him without his misperceptions getting in the way too much. Figuring there's not much left to do, she walks out the east gate of the town, and moves on into the shadowed depths of the Underground, far from the solitary rays of sunshine that dot the Ruins and the cold of Snowdin. One name rings in her mind as she walks. Undyne…